The Coin of the Year nominating panel met yesterday afternoon here in Iola, Wis., to create the list of choices for an international panel of judges to vote on in the first round balloting in this two-round process.

It is an intense effort because mints submit large packets of information. Those of us on the panel are grateful for these, but it does take a while to review everything in them.

Coin of the Year is sponsored by Numismatic News sister paper World Coin News and the NumisMaster Web site.

When the trophies are presented in February 2009, it will be the 25th anniversary year for the award. Time sure flies The world coin market and the mints that supply it have changed a great deal in that span of years.

Coins are much more reflective of consumer choices than they ever used to be. The bulk of the designs produced that so impress those of us who judge never see use in ordinary commerce. That is both a shame and a wonderful development.

It is a shame because average citizens of the world are hardly aware of what coins are being produced.

It is wonderful because coins that don't need to circulate open up new opportunities for mints to be creative. The results range from rectangular coins to those that are colorized or have holograms.

Watch this space for new information in the coming days. The People's Choice Award will again be selected by voters online.

About the Author David C. Harper has been a coin collector since 1963. He joined the Krause Publications editorial staff in 1978 and is currently editor of Numismatic News and World Coin News. He also edits two books annually, North American Coins & Prices and Coin Digest. He is the author of the Class of '63 column that runs each week in Numismatic News. His first bylined numismatic article appeared in the June 1971 issue of Coins Magazine and his various Krause Publications assignments included a stint as editor of the magazine 1980-1983. Harper received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1977. He had a double major of journalism and economics.